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I love Cadbury Creme Eggs. No, I luuuuuurve them. I have to admit, though, I’m glad they’re only available for a limited time every year because they are so tooth-achingly sweet and sugary, that it’s way too easy to go overboard on them.

This recipe is *way* overboard – but ohmygod I have to admit I want one. Adding buttercream frosting to pretty much anything is a “yes” in my book, and adding it to a Cadbury Creme Egg is evil genius territory. Just looking at that picture makes my heart race from a sugar high spike!

Apparently, it’s Guinness Week at Serious Eats and I approve. If you know me, you know I So, needless to say, I was very happy to see that it’s Guinness Week at Serious Eats – my favorite food blog. This recipe for “Beeramisu” looks incredible. Take my favorite beer and my favorite dessert and combine them and it looks like you’ve got heaven. I’m pretty psyched to try this out – I may actually do it Wednesday night so we can enjoy it for dessert on St. Patrick’s day. I’ll be sure to post a follow up if/when I do try it out.

Guinness Week: Beeramisu

This take on Tiramisu strays pretty far from the traditional. It calls for Guinness and Irish Cream instead of coffee and Marsala, but the requisite creamy, soft layers will surely please anyone crazy for this Italian dessert.

This version also leaves out the egg-based zabaglione, which means it’s seriously easy to put together. But take note, this dessert is best if it hangs out in the fridge overnight so it can properly set up and really go to town soaking those ladyfingers.

Like coffee would, the Guinness adds a hint of bitterness to balance the sweetness, and its malty, chocolatey, coffee notes are the perfect pair with sweet Irish Cream and smooth mascarpone.

I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes since I saw it on Serious Eats (via a guest post from Cakespy) a year ago. I guess the original recipe is from Smitten Kitchen and now that I’ve worked backwards to make sure that I give credit for the recipe where credit is due, I kind of wish I’d visited that original page before I made the cupcakes because I really like the way she did the frosting and I totally could have done that tonight. Ah well – next time. :)

My Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes (yes, I’m calling them Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes because that’s what the drink is called that they’re named after and I guess it could be considered offensive but I don’t see them changing the name of the drink anytime soon so I’ll continue to call the cupcakes that so folks know what they’re getting into when they eat the cupcakes) came out great – I was a little nervous about making them because there were so many steps involved. I did make a mess and they did take longer than I thought they would, but they were pretty worth it.

In another large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just until combined.

Add the dry mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using a rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.

Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way (I found that they don’t rise an incredible amount, so it was OK to fill them pretty close to the top). Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly. The original recipe suggested 17 minutes, but I found it took more like 20 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

While your cupcakes cool, go ahead and make the filling. Chop the chocolate into coarse but roughly even pieces, and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until it is simmering (but not boiling) and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for about a minute and then stir until smooth. (Note: Per the original recipe, if this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can return it to a double-boiler or give it 20 seconds in the microwave to help the chocolate get sufficiently melty.) Add the butter, Irish Cream, and whiskey and stir until combined.

Make space for the filling. … You want to cut halfway to 2/3 of the way down–not too far down or your filling might ooze out the bottom. You don’t want to lose a single drop.

Fill the cupcakes. You can pipe in the filling, or if it is still pretty smooth and fluid, you can just spoon it in.

Make the frosting. In an electric mixer, mix the butter on medium speed until it is very fluffy. Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the confectioners’ sugar, starting with a few tablespoons at a time of your sugar until the frosting looks thick enough to spread (for me, this was about 2 cups). At this point, add in the Irish Cream and whip it until combined. Beat in as much or as little of the remaining confectioners’ sugar until the frosting has reached your desired consistency.

Frost your cupcakes. If you want to get fancy, pipe the frosting on top in swirls or whirls—but if you just want to eat the cupcakes, frost using a spatula, garnish with a little something green, and get eating.

You should definitely check out the post at Serious Eats for some pictures of the cupcakes in progress and for the results if you’re impatient and don’t wait for the cupcakes to cool before you fill them.

I found the recipe pretty easy to follow. I’ve been so used to baking cookies lately that the batter came together much quicker than I thought it would and I definitely mixed it more than the recipe called for doing. I don’t think it had any negative affect on the cupcakes, though. The entire process took me about 2.5 hours to do – something to note for next time. I bet it won’t take me as long next time… but it’s definitely not a quick recipe. I used a melon-baller to cut holes in the cupcake to put the filling and that seemed to work out perfectly. Speaking of the filling, I didn’t read the recipe close enough before I went for the store and didn’t buy any heavy cream. I didn’t have any Bailey’s at home, either, but I knew that before I left for the store and, when the liquor store turned out to be closed, I bought some Bailey’s Irish Cream Creamer (which I had a coupon for – woot!) and used that instead. Since I neglected to buy heavy cream, my filling was made with all Irish Cream (Creamer).

See that chocolately goodness by the liner? That's some rogue filling.

The frosting was very straightforward to make. Since I suck at spreading frosting on cupcakes and cakes (and anything else one might frost), I thought I’d dig out my battery operated cookie press with filling attachment to frost the cupcakes. This was a good idea in that my frosting, once I got the hang of controlling the output, looked semi-semi-pro. Unfortunately, it took me a bit to get the hang of filling the press and regulating the output of the frosting – so some cupcakes got mega-frosted and some looked like they had weak poo-piles of frosting. (Mmm, what an appetizing comparison!) Note to self for next time: that frosting will come out much quicker than cookie dough!

Mmmm... Buttery, Irish Creamy Frosting.

I don’t know if it was because I used Creamer and not full-on-alcohol, but my cupcakes did not taste like the “boozy Irish-themed cupcakes” they were described as. I mean, they tasted great (I got rave reviews all around for them), but they didn’t scream Irish Car Bomb – which actually makes me feel like I can bring some to Alex at work or some into my office without being accused of bringing “inappropriate cupcakes”. Even if they’re not “boozy” cupcakes, they’re still really good cupcakes. Very sweet cupcakes – but non-sweet cupcakes are evil (I mean, they sit there looking all sweet and yummy and then you bite into it and it’s just a waste of calories).

Next time I make these, I’ll make sure to have actual Bailey’s Irish Cream on hand (though the creamer was a pretty decent substitute). I’ll also make sure to wear an apron whenever I bake in the future because OHMYGOD I made a mess. I bought some green food coloring and I have some green sugar, so I’ll probably tint the frosting green on at least half of the cupcakes to make for a more festive appearance. If you’re looking for a sweet St Patrick’s Day treat (and Guinness Balls don’t do it for you lol), I’d recommend giving these cupcakes a try!

About Ali

I'm a mom to a gorgeous little guy named Max. I work outside the home full time, but in my "spare" time I love learning and am always working on projects that let me broaden my knowledge of sewing, photography, and any number of things that pique my interest!